diff --git a/t/t9500-gitweb-standalone-no-errors.sh b/t/t9500-gitweb-standalone-no-errors.sh
index 44ae503..d948724 100755
--- a/t/t9500-gitweb-standalone-no-errors.sh
+++ b/t/t9500-gitweb-standalone-no-errors.sh
@@ -60,6 +60,12 @@
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
+perl -MEncode -e 'decode_utf8("", Encode::FB_CROAK)' >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
+    test_expect_success 'skipping gitweb tests, perl version is too old' :
+    test_done
+    exit
+}
+
 gitweb_init
 
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------